Rye Four Art Thou…

It’s the Tasteful Brew’s one week anniversary today. Still have not gone officially live, but have posted some little links here and there, and word of mouth is gaining. Thanks for coming by and taking a look-see, hopefully you guys will come back and see what else will pop up here. Hoping to have much more event coverage in the future. I had plans of going live today but I still have some layout issues on the site I want to take care of.

Last night I took a trip over to another sour head friend of mine’s and brought with me the White Birch Rye Four. As is always the case, I think the corks are just a bit big Bill, I had to fight like hell to get the cork out. Zero gushing, poured wonderfully. I also had a Lindeman’s Cuvee Rene 750ml and a Pannepot 2008 Reserva 33cl that we never even got to. Loved the Rye Four, contemplated it and enjoyed it for hours.

This brew has the nose of an excellent Flander’s Red. Cherry, oak, acidity, heavy malt, it’s wonderful. On par with Rodenbach Grand Cru and Vintage 2007 aromas. Extremely well done. Not a crazy amount going on, but a pleasure nontheless.

Also I feel I should mention the appearance. It’s clear Bill’s quality is continually rising. The lacing is fantastic, the head sticks around for a long while, gem like clarity. Physically it’s beautiful, dark, deep crimson red.

The taste is great but I do have a small complaint I’ll get to at the end. The rye spice notes are woven throughout the brew the best in my opinion. It touches everything. The alcohol is well hidden as usual with White Birch, 11.3% abv is no damn joke, and it’s an easy drinker. This beer will pull the rug out from under you, but you won’t even know until you stand up. Enjoyed it fully. Taste has a nice malty backbone to balance the lactobacillus tartness. The lacto has definitely overpowered the brettanomyces. I get a little funk, but I would have liked and I did expect a little more from the brett. I am being a bit judgemental though as it was only bottled last month. In time I feel this getting epic. The sourness is nice and creamy thanks to the lacto and it’s not extreme, but I feel it’s a little milky for me.

Thus my only complaint is the lacto/brett balance, other than that I would drink this regularly and I truly, truly hope Bill decides to brew this one again.

10/27/10 EDIT: I just returned from White Birch’s Open House and was informed that there was no purposeful innoculation of Lacto or Brett. Just massive amounts of malted Rye. I still maintain something bacterial found it’s way in, but I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again. I still stand by my palate haha.